Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 27, 2026

1. Who We Are

Rhettservations is a student-built application developed as part of the Boston University EC463 Senior Design Project. The app helps BU students find and reserve available study spaces on campus.

2. Information We Collect

When you use Rhettservations, we collect the following information:

• Google Account Information — your name, email address, and profile photo, obtained through Google Sign-In and restricted to @bu.edu accounts only.
• Reservation Data — the rooms you reserve, the times you book, and the purpose of your reservation.
• Group Session Data — the BU email addresses of people you invite to a group reservation.
• Phone Number — if you opt in to SMS notifications, we collect your phone number solely to send reservation reminders.
• Usage Data — basic app usage information such as which buildings and rooms you browse, used to improve the app experience.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect solely to operate and improve Rhettservations:

• To authenticate your identity and verify your BU affiliation
• To create, manage, and display your reservations
• To invite group members and add reservations to Google Calendar
• To send SMS notifications about your upcoming reservations
• To send calendar notifications about your upcoming reservations
• To display real-time room occupancy data in the app

4. Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect or store any of the following:

• Audio recordings — our occupancy tracking uses camera-based people counting only, not audio
• Video footage — the AI camera system processes video locally on-device and does not transmit or store recordings
• Payment information of any kind
• Location data beyond the building and room you select

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes. We use the following third-party services to operate the app:

• Google (Firebase & Google Calendar API) — for authentication and calendar integration
• Amazon Web Services (EC2 & RDS) — for backend infrastructure and database hosting

Each of these services has their own privacy policies governing how they handle data.

6. Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information. Our infrastructure uses industry-standard security practices including encrypted connections (TLS) between all services, database encryption at rest via AWS RDS, and access controls restricting data to authenticated users only. Your data is never publicly accessible.

7. Data Retention

We retain your account and reservation data for as long as you have an active account. If you would like your data deleted, please contact us at the email below and we will remove your information within a reasonable timeframe.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Opt out of SMS notifications at any time

9. Children's Privacy

Rhettservations is intended for use by Boston University students, who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify users through the app. The date at the top of this page reflects when the policy was last revised.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at:

ecruanes@bu.edu